manager had a scowl on his face. Coach asked him, “Is something wrong?” The manager said, “Yes, something’s wrong. Last night I checked the TV viewing records of these men who came here to be more like their God, and most of the records showed they were watching adult movies. If that’s the kind of god you serve, I don’t want to have anything to do with Him.” How sad. Yet it reveals to us something of great importance: People don’t come to conclusions about who Yeshua is based upon what He did and the life He led. Rather, their thoughts about Yeshua seem primarily to be based on who we His fol- lowers are, and what lives we lead. Now that’s a pretty tall order, and as


you know, one we cannot possibly live up to. It’s an interesting dichotomy—the Bible tells us outright that we fall short of the glory of God (that is why He’s God and we’re not, yes?), and yet, those who do not yet know Him expect us to live and act in ways where we match the glory of God. Should they be evaluating Yeshua based upon how we conduct our lives? Of course


not. But perception is reality, and that’s not likely to change. All that to say this: Whether it’s Christ-


mas or Easter, or anything else we do that would cause others to raise an eyebrow and question just how holy and righteous we really are, we have two choices. The first choice is for us to argue and defend our views, but all that ever does is cause us to win the battle but lose the war. There’s an old saying that goes like this: “A person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still.” Did you know that in the thought process of the average individual, 2% is rational and 98 percent is emotion- al? True. Therefore, we should understand that when we differ with someone and feel confident that we have logic and common sense on our side and they will of course have to agree, we shouldn’t be surprised when they don’t.


The second choice we have is the bet-


ter one. If someone is offended by some- thing you do and/or by a religious or spiri- tual practice that you engage in, the right thing to do is to apologize to them for any


Jewish Voice


Where: • Church Congregations • Conferences • Bible Studies • Special Events


Speaks!


Rabbi Jack Zimmerman


Topics: • Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith • Israel & End-Time Prophecy • Scripture from a Hebraic Perspective • Jewish Evangelism and much more!


Ronna Cohen Visit: www.jewishvoice.org/speakers or contact: speakers@jvmi.org for more information.


hurt or offense you may have caused (that’s right—even if you didn’t mean it, or even if you think they shouldn’t have any reason to be offended) and then proceed to let them know that they should not use you as a template for who Yeshua is. In fact, you might want to encourage them to read about the life of Yeshua so that they can see the difference between people, who are works in progress, and Yeshua, who is the epitome of perfection we’d all love to attain!


Let’s use these special times of the year


to, yes—help others see Yeshua through us, and at the same time and even more importantly, help them see Yeshua… through Yeshua!


JACK ZIMMERMAN is Staff Evangelist at Jewish Voice, a Messianic Jewish rabbi, and an ordained Christian pastor. If you would like Jack to speak at


your church, congregation, or event, visit www.jewishvoice.org/speakers.


Rabbi Jonathan Bernis


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